Tired of plain old Mr., Mrs., Ms., and Miss? The "Title" dropdown box on the Royal Opera House's registration form provides some handy alternatives, and since it is a required field, one cannot, must not leave it blank in a sentimental fit of democratic fellow-feeling. So many to choose from! "Princessin"! "Viscondessa"! "Prof Dame"! "Marchesa" is very pretty, but I think I'll opt for "The Dowager Marchioness of ..." (One presumably fills in the blank with the appropriate fiefdom. Note to self: grab name of fabulous sounding fiefdom before they're all gone, like all the best domain names and email addresses.)

I'm guessing "HE The French Ambassador M" is already taken. Harumph! I see there's no "HE The French Ambassador MME"! Perhaps a Mme Ambassador is expected to know how to type in the rest. There's no Her Hon Judge, either, just His. The patriarchy lives on ...

Tired of plain old Mr., Mrs., Ms., and Miss? The "Title" dropdown box on the Royal Opera House's registration form provides some handy alternatives, and since it is a required field, one cannot, must not leave it blank in a sentimental fit of democratic fellow-feeling. So many to choose from! "Princessin"! "Viscondessa"! "Prof Dame"! "Marchesa" is very pretty, but I think I'll opt for "The Dowager Marchioness of ..." (One presumably fills in the blank with the appropriate fiefdom. Note to self: grab name of fabulous sounding fiefdom before they're all gone, like all the best domain names and email addresses.)

I'm guessing "HE The French Ambassador M" is already taken. Harumph! I see there's no "HE The French Ambassador MME"! Perhaps a Mme Ambassador is expected to know how to type in the rest. There's no Her Hon Judge, either, just His. The patriarchy lives on ...

And since when did Queens book and pay for their own tickets, online no less?

I'm rather enjoying the image of the Queen creating an online account and navigating through the ROH website.

You have to wonder, is this something they thought of themselves (in which case, they have a rather skewed view of their customers who are likely to use online ticketing) or did some lower Baron of Something-or-Other throw a fit and they were forced to put it in?

I'm also puzzled by some omissions. Why are Dowager Marchionesses the only Dowagers listed? Surely there must be other titled widows of a certain age who go to the ballet.

(Speaking of "come the revolution," Simon, am I wrong or didn't you already have one? Charles I lost his head, I believe? And then you invited all those titled unemployables back again. Somewhat neutered, of course, but still.)

I'm also puzzled by some omissions. Why are Dowager Marchionesses the only Dowagers listed? Surely there must be other titled widows of a certain age who go to the ballet.

(Speaking of "come the revolution," Simon, am I wrong or didn't you already have one? Charles I lost his head, I believe? And then you invited all those titled unemployables back again. Somewhat neutered, of course, but still.)

Dirac,

I think in this case you can assume that the ROH is catering directly to its core subscribers/individuals. In the UK we have several Dowager Marchionesses, which is a title in itself.

So when the current Dowager Marchioness of Salisbury, Bute, Queensbury, Lansdowne etc etc etc books her tickets online (or has some flunky do it for her) she'll get a lil frisson of delight to see that the ROH subscriptions department has catered precisely to her title. Now that's customer service.